1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel means for flushing the cooling system for a liquid-cooled, internal combustion, marine engine, and particularly to a novel and improved strainer for use in such system. The invention includes a novel cooling system employing the novel strainer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A liquid-cooled, internal combustion marine engine is cooled by drawing external water in through a coolant intake pipeline, circulating it through the engine block and then discharging it with the exhaust gas from the engine. The external water, be it water from an ocean, a river, a lake, or the like, is ordinarily contaminated with soluble salts and minerals and often contains abrasive particles, such as silt and sand.
Many prior coolant intake pipelines include a strainer that is adapted to collect organic material and solid particles before they enter the engine block. A typical pipeline strainer includes a container having an inlet port, an outlet port and a cleanout aperture; a metal mesh basket in the container; a removable metal cover for closing the cleanout aperture; and means for clamping the cover over the cleanout aperture.
If external water is allowed to remain in the engine block and/or in the coolant intake pipeline for a prolonged period of time, the metal parts thereof are likely to corrode and require costly replacements and repairs, and/or engine failure. To avoid this, it is common practice to flush the engine and intake pipeline with fresh water at frequent intervals before storing the engine, and often during storage. Many boat owners flush the cooling system with fresh water or other liquid coolant after every use of the engine.
Several expedients have been suggested to reduce the time and effort required to flush the cooling system for a marine engine. U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,612 to L. J. Maxon and U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,618 to W. Patti suggest installing a T-fitting in the coolant intake line, and injecting fresh water through the T-fitting when fresh-water flushing is desired. Such modifications to the cooling system are relatively expensive and do not reduce substantially the time and effort required for flushing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,948 to K. G. Guhlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,851 to M. A. Karls; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,393 to J. A. Ferguson suggest clamping the fixture over the coolant intake port of the cooling system, and then injecting fresh water through the fixture when fresh-water flushing is desired. While these arrangements do not modify the cooling system, they require considerable time and effort to set up, and are not practical for use while the boats remain in the water.